A man charged with defrauding a group of companies of R71 million was granted bail of R100,000 by the East London Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said Henry Louis Fourie Schreuder, 53, appeared in court for a charge of defrauding the Accéntuate group of companies a total of R71 million.
Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Anelisa Feni said: “Schreuder was arrested today after he handed himself over to the offices of the East London Hawks. He handed himself after the investigating officer visited his home in Nahoon last week Friday 18 March, 2016, with the intention of arresting him. However, he was allegedly away attending a business meeting in Pretoria.
“The suspended Chief Financial Director (CFD) of Floorworx, a company based at Wilsonia in East London, allegedly between the years 2005 and 2015 defrauded this company, which is attached to Accéntuate, of a total of R71 million.
“It is alleged that while Schreuder was the(CFD) of this company which supplies carpet flooring solutions, he would upload fictitious creditors on the company’s system and authorise their payments. The company’s head office in Johannesburg would then approve this payment since he had authorised it.
“Furthermore, the payment would be transferred into Schreuder’s private bank account and he would then transfer a portion of this money into his wife and son’s bank accounts,” Feni charged. “Moreover, he purportedly gambled a portion of this amount and also bought luxury items like cars, jewellery and Persian carpets.”
The case was referred to the Hawks for investigation last year December, after a whistle-blower employed at Floorworx discovered the irregular payments.
Schreuder’s next court appearance will be on April 5.
– African News Agency (ANA)
